Candy Moulton: Reading the West 3-26-12

Santa Fe author Johnny D. Boggs won Spur Awards for his long and short novels, while Salt Lake City poet and fiction writer Rod Miller also won two Spurs this year for poetry and a short story.

Colorado Songwriter Jon Chandler claimed his third Spur award for his Song, “Morning Star Moon.” He had previously won Spur awards for Best First Novel and Western Song.

Winners in 17 categories were announced this week by Spur Awards Chair Eli Paul.

Boggs will carry home Spurs for his novels “Legacy of a Lawman” (Five Star Publishing) and “West Texas Kill” (Pinnacle/Kensington). He has previously won four Spur Awards for adult and juvenile novels and a short story. This year’s wins put him up with Richard S. Wheeler of Livingston, Mont., as the two living authors with the most Spur Awards. They both have six.

Miller’s poem “Tabula Rasa” published by Port Yonder Press earned him a Spur, and he picks up the second one for his short fiction story “The Death of Delgado” (Western Fictioneers). The competition in both categories was particularly strong this year and a second Spur Award in the Short Fiction Story category will be awarded to Texas writer Clay Reynolds for “The Deacon’s Horse.”

The Nickelodeon Movies film, “Rango” earned a Spur for screenwriter John Logan, while Director Cindy Meehl and Producer Julie Goldman (Cedar Creek Productions) will receive the Spur in the Documentary Script category for “Buck,” a film about the legendary horseman Buck Brannaman.

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Since 1953, Western Writers of America (www.WesternWriters.org) has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by panels of judges. Awards, for material published last year, are given for works whose inspiration, image and literary excellence best represent the reality and spirit of the American West. Previous winners include Thomas Powers, Lucia St. Clair Robson and Nancy Plain.

Winners and finalists will be honored June 12-16 at the WWA Convention in Albuquerque, N.M.

Stephen Harrigan of Austin, Texas, won for Best Western Long Novel with “Remember Ben Clayton” (Alfred A. Knopf). This is his third Spur having previously won for a novel and a drama script.

In the nonfiction categories David L. Bigler of Roseville, Calif., and Will Bagley of Salt Lake City, Utah won the Spur for Best Historical Nonfiction with “Mormon Rebellion: America’s First Civil War 1857-1858.” Paul Andrew Hutton of Albuquerque, N.M., takes home his fifth Spur Award for his Short Nonfiction Article, “The Alamo, Well Remembered” published by Wild West Magazine. His prior Spurs were for his biography of Philip Sheridan and three documentary film scripts.